The Reality About Web site Internet hosting Prices
Every website needs a hosting plan.
But there are so many different web hosting costs out there. It's overwhelming for both novice and seasoned website owners. How Much Should You Pay for Web Hosting? Are you Paying Too Much for Web Hosting? What does web hosting really cost?
Some plans start under $ 1 per month. Others start at over $ 2,000 per month!
To make matters even more complicated, there are more than 330,000 web hosting providers in the market today. Trying to find the best web hosting plan for your website without paying too much can feel like an impossible task.
Fortunately, I'm going to tell you a little secret – you don't have to overpay for web hosting.
This guide will tell you more about the cost of web hosting. I've identified the primary costs associated with web hosting and how those costs are valued when shopping. You will find out more about how much you should pay for certain web hosting benefits and whether you even need certain features in your hosting plan.
My favorite tool for keeping web hosting costs down
Bluehost is my favorite tool for keeping web hosting costs down.
As the industry leader in web hosting, more than two million websites worldwide rely on Bluehost for hosting. They have packages for everyone. Whether you are starting a small personal blog or looking for a new provider to host your company website with millions of monthly visits, Bluehost can meet your needs.
Bluehost isn't necessarily the cheapest web hosting provider out there. Some providers offer free web hosting or web hosting for less than a dollar. However, you should avoid free web hosting at all costs – there is always a catch.
But Bluehost really delivers in terms of value. They offer low entry prices for new websites, and their web hosting services help keep other costs down over time.
You can learn more about general web hosting costs below. I'll even explain how Bluehost can help you save money in some of these categories.
Cost # 1: web hosting type
The type of web hosting plan you choose has the biggest impact on price. This is not a hard and fast rule, but in general, here is the order from cheapest to most expensive:
- Shared web hosting
- Cloud web hosting
- VPS web hosting (Virtual Private Server)
- Special server web hosting
Depending on the hosting provider, cloud hosting and VPS hosting can be switched. However, the above list is a good rule of thumb.
Take a look at this Bluehost pricing page for an example:
As you can see, there is a significant price gap between each type of web hosting. The starting price of a dedicated server is approximately 20 times higher than the common starting rate.
Unless you anticipate large fluctuations in traffic, the vast majority of new websites should stick to a common plan. This is the best way to save money and you can always upgrade as your website grows.
Most shared plans can accommodate 10,000 to 25,000 monthly visits. Once you've hit the 50,000 monthly visit range, consider upgrading to a VPS or cloud plan. I wouldn't consider a dedicated server until you are dwarfing 100,000 monthly visits, and even at this point it isn't 100% required.
Cost No. 2: Duration of the contract
Generally, you'll need to commit to a longer term contract to get the lowest possible rate. This is one of the best ways to save money on web hosting costs, especially as a new customer.
Depending on the provider, plans are usually offered with a contract period of 12, 24, 36 and up to 48 months. Month to month web hosting is not very common. So expect at least a year.
Here is an example of the different prices that Bluehost offers depending on the contract duration:
As you can see, there is a price difference of $ 2 per month between the 36 month contract and the 12 month contract. This is not life changing money or anything like that. But you'll save $ 72 over three years.
Just understand that when you sign up, you need to pay for your contract in full in advance. In this case, $ 3.95 per month for 36 months now actually means $ 142.20.
Cost # 3: Renewal Rates
By signing a long-term contract, you can also avoid renewal installments. In the web hosting industry, it's common for providers to offer low special prices and then raise the prices when your contract is renewed.
Do not get me wrong. It's not that they're not open about it. However, most people don't think about the cost they will have in three or four years. Some providers double, triple, or even quadruple your renewal rate.
Let's take a closer look at Bluehost's shared hosting plans. You can see renewal rates well below each introductory price.
In this case, the renewal rate is more than double the introductory price. Believe it or not, this is actually pretty reasonable compared to some of the other web hosting providers on the market today.
There is not much you can do to avoid this surge. Your best bet is to just make long-term introductory contact. This is the best way to save the most money.
Once your website has been up and running for a few years, the additional costs of renewing shouldn't be too heavy.
Cost # 4: Hosting Resources
Each web hosting plan allocates a certain number of resources to your website. This can vary slightly from provider to provider. Here's a basic rundown of what to expect:
- Bandwidth – How fast your server can transfer data.
- CPUs – central processing units for handling all requirements on your site.
- RAM – short-term memory for processing multiple requests at the same time.
- SSD Storage – The maximum allowed size of your website.
In general, the more resources you have, the higher your hosting costs will be.
Here is a screenshot from Bluehost's VPS pricing table to illustrate my point:
As you can see, SSD storage, RAM, and bandwidth increase at every level. The number of CPU cores stays the same from the standard to the advanced plan, but doubles at the Ultimate package level.
Some providers offer "unlimited" or "unmeasured" bandwidth. Just be warned that you are actually not getting unlimited bandwidth. There is really no such thing as unlimited bandwidth. Even the best servers have limits. Unlimited bandwidth just means that you can use that much bandwidth within a certain range offered by the provider.
How much bandwidth do you need? This is not an exact science, but generally with 5GB of bandwidth, up to 15,000 or 20,000 visitors per month can browse pages with an average size of 50KB.
Consider a cloud hosting plan if your traffic varies significantly from month to month. These packages typically allow you to scale resources as needed to accommodate traffic spikes.
Cost # 5: Setup Fees and Site Migrations
Most web hosting providers offer free setups. This is especially true for entry-level packages like shared hosting plans. However, if the vendor actually needs to take thorough steps to get you started, setup fees may apply.
Setup fees are more commonly charged at the dedicated server level, where vendors need to physically add hardware components based on your plan needs.
Moving your website from one hosting provider to another may also incur a website migration fee.
Bluehost charges $ 149.99 for site transfers. Other providers offer this service for free, but it shouldn't make or break your decision to use one web host over another.
You can justify the cost by getting a professional to do it. I don't recommend migrating a website yourself. Too much can go wrong. So pay the fee and don't think twice about it.
Cost # 6: Domain Registration
Usually, I wouldn't mix domain registration and web hosting. It is usually in your best interests to get your domain name from a domain registrar and your hosting package from a web hosting provider.
That said, new websites can bundle the two, especially through Bluehost. All new Bluehost customers get a free domain with a web hosting subscription for one year.
In the long term, it is cheaper to get your domain directly from a registrar. Bluehost's domain renewal rates will be slightly higher. Overall, however, the additional costs are quite low.
Most new website owners will just find it easier to bundle everything under one roof than using different platforms for a domain name and hosting plan.
Cost # 7: Security
I don't care what kind of website you have. Safety must be a top priority for everyone.
There are a handful of different security measures that should be added to your site. I am referring to things like network protocols, spam filtering, malware scanning, firewalls and more. However, you can get additional security directly from your web hosting provider.
Every web host should offer you at least one free SSL certificate. This has become the industry standard, and I wouldn't recommend a host that charges an additional SSL fee.
The exact security options vary from provider to provider. However, here is an example from Bluehost.
For $ 2.99 per month, SiteLock Security Essential offers automatic malware detection, unlimited page scans, blacklist monitoring, file-level scanning, automatic malware removal, plug-in scanning, weekly reports, and much more.
Alternatively, you can always skip this and increase the security yourself. If you use WordPress there are a lot of great WordPress security plugins to consider.
Cost # 8: Managed Support and Server Maintenance
Managed web hosting has grown in popularity over the years. The term has different meanings depending on the plan and provider used. In short, a managed web host takes care of all server operations behind the scenes. This usually includes setup, maintenance, server monitoring, support, updates, and more.
Alternatively, high traffic websites could consider a managed WordPress plan.
Bluehost's managed entry plan starts at $ 19.95 per month and can accommodate up to 50,000 visitors per month. These plans range up to websites with 500,000 monthly visitors.
When using a dedicated server, it is important to think about maintenance costs. Dedicated servers are usually offered with managed or unmanaged options.
The unmanaged plans are cheaper if you just compare the plans side by side. However, you are responsible for the cost of maintaining and updating the server yourself. In general, unless you are really technical or have a dedicated IT team, it is better to just get a managed plan from your hosting provider. In the long run, it's cheaper than managing a server on your own.
Cost No. 9: Package Extras
Every web hosting provider makes an effort to sign you up for as many different services as possible. Navigating upsells is only part of shopping for web hosting.
With that in mind, you can skip the vast majority of add-ons and upsells offered by web hosts, especially those that are not directly related to web hosting.
Here is an example to show you what I mean:
The above web hosting cost is $ 142.20. However, if you add all of the package extras to your plan, your total is $ 277.83. That's a big jump from a advertised price of $ 3.95 per month.
Believe it or not, Bluehost doesn't even offer that many extras when compared to other hosting providers. Some offer double or even triple that amount.
The key here is knowing what to choose and what not.
A single domain SSL is not required as you already get one Let's Encrypt SSL with your plan. You don't need any marketing or SEO tools. We have already discussed SiteLock Security Essential.
If you don't get security features elsewhere, adding them now is a good choice.
Codeguard Basic is another 50/50 option. It includes daily backups, one-click restores, and other helpful tools. However, you can always get this later via other plugins or services.
Cost # 10: Downtime
Downtime is an indirect cost to web hosting. It is not something that you will see on your bill.
But every time your site goes down due to a server crash or network failure, it costs you money. The type of website you have and your monetization strategy will determine exactly how much money you will lose.
You can use the availability monitor from Pingdom to see how different web hosts stack up with each other. Here is an example showing Bluehost's availability stats over the past ten months.
Don't just look at a hosting provider uptime guarantee and assume you're in good shape. These guarantees are usually associated with all types of contingent liabilities. If you fail to comply with the availability agreement, you will only receive a credit from a future invoice.
But that $ 0.50 or $ 1.25 in two years credit is not worth the cost of losing customers today.
Always check out the reviews to see what real people have to say about the reliability of the availability of various web hosting providers. Frequent downtime can be costly in the long run.
Conclusion
What is the Truth About Web Hosting Costs? You don't have to pay a fortune.
Your total cost of hosting a website will depend on a number of factors. I've identified the top ten biggest web hosting costs above. As you can see from this list, keeping hosting costs down is actually pretty easy once you understand what to look for.
Bluehost is my favorite way to save money on web hosting. So if you sign up with them, you are on the right track. You even get a free SSL certificate and domain name.
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